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African Leaders, Send Girls to School

Editor's note: Angelique Kidjo, a Grammy Award-winning musician, is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and co-founder of the Batonga Foundation, which aims to empower women in Africa through education. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- There is not a single day I don't think about them. Exactly two months ago, over 200 schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok, Northern Nigeria. Today, they are still missing. And I feel as outraged as many of you do.

As the world hopes for their safe return, there is another story. What doesn't make the headlines is the fact that many children around the world have never had a chance to go to school.

In West and Central Africa, almost 1 out of 5 school-age children will never enter a classroom, according to a new report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.